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A loophole in government guidance has caused some of the country’s most vulnerable people to lose up to 60% of their income and is now forcing many to put their health at risk as lockdown comes to an end, one of the UK’s biggest charities has warned.
Around 2.5 million UK residents, hundreds of thousands of whom are in employment, have been identified by the government as being “extremely clinically vulnerable”. They were ordered to shield at home until the end of June, although their employers did not have to furlough them.
I’ve basically been told to choose between my daughter’s health or keeping food on the table. It’s stressful. I can’t concentrate, I can’t sleep, I can hardly eat.
Related: UK’s most vulnerable people at risk of losing 60% of their income
More than 40 leading healthcare charities have warned that millions of vulnerable and extremely vulnerable people are getting “mixed and confused messages” about the easing of shielding measures, potentially putting their health and safety at serious risk.
Charities including Macmillan Cancer Support, Versus Arthritis, the British Lung Foundation, Asthma UK and the MS Society published an open letter calling for the UK government to publish clear, consistent advice on shielding measures for these groups to ensure they can protect themselves and can access support as lockdown eases.
People with cystic fibrosis have been advised to stay in their homes for nearly 12 weeks now to protect them from Covid-19, yet they don’t know how long this advice will last and what their lives might be like in the coming weeks and months.
Many have been shielding as a whole family unit, and this impacts them all – especially as children start to go back to school and more people return to work.
Read our open letter with @asthmauk, @lunguk, @mssociety, @nvtweeting, @versusArthritis, @kidneycareuk and @cftrust to UK Governments, here: https://t.co/syGBJG0aLw #TheForgottenC
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